CNN Business
U.S. center-left
Background
CNN launched in 1980 as the first 24-hour cable news network, with CNN Business (formerly CNNMoney, a joint venture with Time Inc.) developing as its dedicated financial and corporate news arm. CNN's corporate parent has changed hands repeatedly: Turner Broadcasting, then Time Warner, then AT&T's WarnerMedia (2018), then Warner Bros. Discovery after the 2022 merger with Discovery Inc. In 2026, WBD agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance for roughly $110 billion, a deal still pending as of this writing, which would place CNN alongside CBS News under one owner. CNN has long been a target of conservative criticism as biased toward Democrats, a label its editors dispute, while surveys and media-bias trackers generally place it left-of-center but within mainstream norms. Under CEO Mark Thompson, CNN has faced direct conflict with the Trump administration in 2026, including a presidential ban on CNN's White House access that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW are jointly challenging in court, and public confrontations between Trump and CNN correspondents. CNN Business itself covers markets, corporate news, economic policy, and tech, generally applying mainstream economic reporting norms rather than overt partisan framing, though its coverage of the Trump administration's economic and trade policies has often been scrutinizing in tone.
Sources
- Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies | CNN Business
- Barry Diller sought to buy CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery, sources say | CNN Business
- CNN CEO Mark Thompson Addresses Donald Trump's White House Ban, Pending Paramount Merger In Town Hall
- Networks Halt TV Pool Coverage Of Trump In Protest Of President's Ban On CNN
- 'You Should Not Be Here,' Trump Tells CNN at UN as Standoff With Media Outlets Persists
- Who Owns CNN? | The Motley Fool
Profile compiled 2026-09-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.